Corey Knowlton, posing with one of his kills, spent $350,000 for a permit to shoot a black rhino. Photo: Facebook

Black rhino auction winner Corey Knowlton has responded to the uproar over him spending $350,000 to obtain a permit to kill one of the fewer than 5,000 black rhinoceroses left on the planet.

Unrepentant Hunting Consortium consultant and dad of two Knowlton says people should use the furor as a way to spark discussion about conservation.

Corey Knowlton with a ramPhoto: Facebook

Knowlton said on his Facebook page — which is full of bloody images of him proudly posing next to animals he has killed, including a giant brown bear and a record-breaking mako shark — “Thank you all for your comments about conservation and the current situation regarding the Black Rhino. I am considering all sides and concerns involved in this unique situation. Please don’t rush to judgment with emotionally driven criticism towards individuals on either sides of this issue. I deeply care about all of the inhabitants of this planet and I am looking forward to more educated discussion regarding the ongoing conservation effort for the Black Rhino.”

Knowlton purchased the controversial permit — auctioned off at a Dallas Safari Club event Saturday — from the Namibian government to hunt an endangered black rhino. The event was framed as a fund-raiser, with organizers claiming the proceeds would be used for preservation of the magnificent, endangered species. It was claimed that the rhino that would be hunted via this permit was an old, post-breeding bull.

It is believed that Knowlton — described as an experienced hunter who has “hunted widely on six continents taking more than 120 species” — bought the permit for an unnamed client. He refused to take our calls.

Knowlton’s boss, Hunting Consortium president Robert P. Kern, responded to us in an e-mail saying, “The government of Namibia urgently needs funding . . . to combat the latest onslaught of poaching . . . The fastest way to do this was to auction a single rhino bull, provided by the government of Namibia . . . No rhino is immortal. We feel that it is far better to allow this rhino to be hunted in exchange for a huge donation to the anti-poaching campaign, rather than letting him die of natural causes.”